Black Friday sales move deeper and deeper into Thanksgiving Day

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Vickie Torres, 51, of Cabazon has been camped out in front of the Beaumont Best Buy since last Thursday. By the time the store opens on Thanksgiving it will have been two weeks for Torres. “My feet and back are going to be killing me.” Said Torres. Rick Sforza — Staff photographer

Black Friday is rapidly morphing into “pre-Black Friday” as retailers launch their holiday discounts earlier and earlier each year.

And 2013 is no exception.

Black Friday began creeping into Thanksgiving a couple of years ago, led by Toys R Us, which announced it would open at 9 p.m., and Wal-Mart, which kicked off its sales at 10 p.m. Last year, more big retailers laid claim to Thanksgiving evening and some Southland malls opened at midnight for the first time.

But the holiday “creep” will start even earlier this year. Kmart announced that it will open at 6 a.m. on Thanksgiving — angering some consumers who said it was a violation of the holiday — and stay open for 41 hours straight. Old Navy stores also will open for Thanksgiving morning, at 9 a.m., and Toys R Us will open at 5 p.m. — four hours earlier than last year.

Wal-Mart bumped up its Thursday opening from last year by two hours and will start doorbusters at 6 p.m., along with Best Buy and Sports Authority. And Target will open at 8 p.m., an hour ahead of last year. Macy’s and Kohl’s will open at 8 p.m. — the first Thanksgiving appearance for each. Staples, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Office Depot and Office Max also will open at 8 p.m. Thanksgiving Day. Old Navy plans to close briefly Thursday before most stores reopen for Black Friday, but other stores will stay open around-the-clock.

Are retailers really that desperate?

Economist Christopher Thornberg, a founding partner with Beacon Economics in Los Angeles, says it’s more a matter of targeting.

“You have to recognize that the retail business is all about price discrimination and loss leaders — getting people in the doors,” he said. “You have to get them up and running. There are people like me who will end up buying their gifts five days before Christmas and really heating up the plastic. But there is another group of shoppers that are price sensitive and looking for bargains. To deal with that group you have to offer these really good prices for a short period of time.”

And “short” is the operative word this year. Facing the shortest holiday shopping season since 2002 — just 26 days compared to 32 last year — many retailers have shifted their best sales from Black Friday to Thanksgiving Day.

“They’ll hit hard ... and be very, very early,” said Tamara Gaffney, marketing manager with Adobe Digital Index.

The shortened holiday calendar could cost retailers $1.5 billion in sales this year, Gaffney said, because shoppers will make fewer trips to the stores. And with less time to prepare for expensive purchases, many will settle for more practical gifts. Retailers are scrambling to prevent that shortfall, as many rely on the holidays for 40 percent of their annual business.

If trends continue, shopper turnout will be the strongest this year since the Thanksgiving creep began. In 2010, 10 percent of shoppers were in the stores by midnight on Black Friday, according to the National Retail Federation. The following year, 24 percent were shopping on Turkey Day. And last year, 28 percent — more than 35 million people — shopped on Thanksgiving.

The early store openings contributed to record holiday weekend spending last year — $59 billion, about a 13 percent increase over the previous year.

One thing’s certain. Vickie Torres will be first in line for some of those discounts.

For the past three years Torres has spent Thanksgiving camped out in front of the Best Buy store in Beaumont, and she’s already out there this year.

“I’ve been first in line for the past three years,” the 51-year-old Cabazon resident said Wednesday, as she huddled amid the cool temperatures and a gray sky threatening rain.

Torres, who is on a fixed income, said this is the only way she is able to afford some of the electronics the store features. She hopes to buy a 39-inch TV and a Kindle tablet.

“People don’t understand,” she said. “I can’t normally afford to buy a television.”

Fellow campers Lilie Gonzales, 29, and Mike Pinon, 49, joke about Torres being a local celebrity.

“Last night a couple kids woke her up so they could get a photo with her,” said Pinon, who’s hoping to pick up a television, Kindle and a computer.

Best Buy Store Manager Dani Gregory said the handful of people lined up in front of the store are definitely hard-core shoppers.

“Usually we see it really pick up by next Monday or Tuesday,” he said. “That’s when most people will start really showing up.”

Gregory said this is the first year the store will be open on Thanksgiving.

“We’ll open our doors at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving,” he said. “In past years the store opened at 12:01 a.m. on Black Friday.”

And as for the die-hards camped in front of the store?

“We just try to help maintain the chaos,” he said.

Many retailers are already offering deep discounts. Wal-Mart is selling 55-inch, Sanyo flat-screen TVs for $498. And Target is promoting pre-Black Friday deals and daily doorbusters on such items as electric razors and coffee makers.

The discounts are deep, but Santa Clarita resident Cindy Nazario isn’t buying into the get-it-early-and-get-it-cheap strategy. Nazario figures she can avoid the crowds and still get bargain-basement prices.

“It’ll still be there,” she said. “It’s just a gimmick to get people out early to shop. They trick you into spending money, but then you realize you could have waited and still gotten the same price.”

Nazario’s attitude may well resonate with other shoppers, because a recent survey by financial services firm Edward Jones revealed that 37 percent of Americans plan to spend less on holiday shopping in 2013 than they spent in 2012.

“While we expect some sales growth in the retail market this holiday season, those polled expressed a conservative view on holiday spending,” Brian Yarbrough, the company’s consumer discretionary analyst, said in a statement. “We anticipate solid numbers from most retailers with luxury players leading the charge.”

The survey, conducted during the government shutdown, provides a unique perspective into how the political landscape and other short-term events may impact consumer spending behaviors.

The Edward Jones poll further indicates that 39 percent of those polled will keep the same shopping budget, while just 18 percent plan to spend more.

Heather Somerville and Karen Casto contributed to this report.